Walking in Each Other's Shoes
by Ele-sama
Summary: A DN Angel FullMetal Alchemist Crossover
1. Story Review

**Walking in Each Others' Shoes**

A DN Angel and Full Metal Alchemist Fan Fic.

Story by: N. Sullivan **For DNAngel and FullMetalAlchemist fans!**

A mystic comet flies overhead in the night sky of a full moon. It is said to have the powers of opening gates to other worlds, but only when activated by the sacred Statue of Aries; the Greek Goddess of Chaos.

The Phantom Thief, Dark, successfully steals the statue of Discorda and tries to seal its power before it can open the gate to another world. But while the comet hits the moon overhead, Dark soul is whisked away to another body, where he awakes to find a 6 foot tall suit of armor calling him 'Brother', while his successor, none other than the Full Metal Alchemist, awakes in Darks body back at the Niwa house hold.

Now each must live in each other's lives until they can find away to get back to their own worlds.

Where a the Dark Angel becomes the Dog of the Military

and

The Hero of the People becomes the Phantom Thief


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- The Alchemist and the Thief**

Two figures sat alone on the ties of a railroad track in the middle of a barren desert. One, in a large suit of armor, who was looking up into the night sky above them, the other, looked as if he could be about the age of 15 or so, with long blonde gold bangs over his eyes, wearing a red overcoat. The boy's eyes were cast downward, as if he were half asleep. He was leaning against the man in the armor, one his right side and strattleling the railroad.  
"Brother," said the man in the armor, though his voice sounded like that of a child. He brought his hand up into the sky and pointed to a green comet that was slowly crossing the night sky. "Look! Isn't it awesome! I don't think I've ever seen one like that before."  
His brother looked up at the comet. "And to think," he said lightly chuckling, his golden eye gleaming up at it. "People will go and make wishes on those things when all they are is a chunk of ice."  
"You always seem to take the magic out of things, don't you brother?"  
"I can't help it," he said sighing and leaning up against his brother again, "I'm just not into those types of things."  
A long silence passed between the two brothers, though the boy in the armor continued to look at the comet.  
"Brother? Do you ever wonder about if there might be other worlds out there?" he asked.  
"Don't be stupid, Al," his brother said shaking his head. "Don't tell me you believe in aliens or anything like that?" When he said the word 'aliens' he put his arms out and shook them and made a weird face as if he wasn't from this world, before falling back onto his brother.  
Al shook his head, "No, nothing like that. It's just that it kind of seems sort of breath tacking, don't you think? When you look at the sky on nights like tonight?"  
"Well if you put it like that it does," his brother said looking out onto the tracks. "Man. I'm hungry," he said point blankly changing the subject. He turned his body on the tracks and clapped his hands together, then quickly dropped them onto one of the ties. A blue light started emitting from his hand and the wood, and the wood started to change until it had shrunk down into a red slightly shriveled up apple. He smiled and picked the apple up, taking a big bite out of it. But once he did, he spat it back out again. "Blege! Tastes like wood," he threw it over his shoulder and slumped back down.  
Al laughed. "I guess alchemy's not the answer for everything, huh Ed?"  
Ed looked over to his brother. "Where'd that come from?" he asked still a bit annoyed from his failed transmutation.  
"Nothing," Al said shaking his head, "You probably just needed more water."  
Ed sighed, "We're in the middle of a desert Al. Where the heck am I going to get water?" Just then his stomach made a large growl. Ed slightly blushed and gripped his stomach. "Sooo hungry…" he moaned lightly.  
"Ed maybe you should get some rest. I'll stay up and watch from the train."  
"You sure Al?" Edward asked in a blank tone.  
Al nodded, "We've been walking all day, brother. You must be tired."  
Ed sighed. "That I am. But I'm not just about to fall asleep on you Alphonse," he said in a yawn, and leaning against his brother's side again.  
Al shook his head again, "Don't worry about it. Go to sleep, you need the rest."  
But before Ed could answer, he was out like a light. Al slightly laughed at this and looked back towards the comet as it crossed the sky.

"**STOP! THEIF!**" yelled a group of cops, as they rounded a corner into a side ally way of a city. The figure that they were chasing had a statue under his right arm, and was nimbly extending the gap between them. The man smiled and jumped onto a fire escape and quickly started to climb to the top. The cops below him stood a bit in aw at the thief's escape plan, until a black hair inspector ran up behind them.  
"What are you doing!" he yelled. "Bring him down!"  
"Open Fire!" yelled one of the cops, but by the time they had pulled their guns out and let out a round, the thief was already off the fire escape and onto the roof.  
"Damn it!" yelled the inspector. "After him. NOW!"  
Up above on the roof tops though the thief was quickly making his way, jumping from ceiling to ceiling, along the buildings, to the town square that was about 100 yards in front of him.  
"That was a close one, Dark," said a voice from out of nowhere.  
"Don't worry your head Daisuke," said the thief, with a wide smile across his face, "That's why I took over in the first place, isn't it? Because those cops have tried everything and anything in the book in trying to catch us."  
"Yeah, but-" said the voice again, but Dark cut him off in mid-sentence. "But nothing," he said glancing downward at the statue under his arm, that had been covered up with a small tarp. "We got the statue didn't we? So why are you complaining?"  
"Because they pulled guns out on us!" yelled the voice.  
"And all is said and done. _This_ damsel in distress," he said referring to the statue "is rescued by the good guys while the bad cops can do nothing but sit on their buts and do nothing to stop us. So what if they fire off a few guns at us? Your safe with me Dai, I've gone through worse."  
"You mean, _we've_ gone through worse," said Daisuke.  
"Right so why don't we end this show with a bang?" Dark said approaching the final rooftop.  
Below down in the city square were crowds gathered around and in the street, most of them girls, holding signs that said 'I love you Dark!', screaming and applauding wildly at the thief's appearance.  
His long black raven hair flew out of his face and purple eyes as the thief gave the crowd a wink and a heart throbbing smile.  
"Wiz! Now!" he yelled out jumping straight out and off of the three story tall building that he had been standing on.  
"DARK!" yelled Daisuke, just barely above the screaming fan girls.  
A pair of jet black wings sprung from the thief's back, and he sped along the head of the crowd, about three feet above them, encored by his many adoring fans below. Dark gave the crowd another smile before climbing in altitude and sailing out of sight.  
"And there you have it folks," said a news reporter on the ground, "Another successful escape from the ever elusive Phantom Thief Dark. Now we go to Oboshi with the news on how our police force is dealing yet with another of Dark's master mind escapes."  
Back above in the air, Dark had a successful look of triumph painted on his face.  
"Dark! What on earth were you thinking?" Daisuke yelled.  
"What?" Dark asked innocently, "I just wanted to have a little fun."  
"But what if something bad were to have happened?"  
"You worry too much Dai," Dark said turning his head back to look if the police had sent any helicopters to follow him. Thankfully he was alone in the sky. "Looks like we're home free body. And it's a good thing Satoshi didn't show up tonight. It could have gotten really messy if Krad would have gone and gotten in the way again."  
Daisuke appeared by Dark as he started flying over the ocean. Daisuke was wearing mostly the same clothes as Dark, only they looked baggy and didn't fit him quite right. He had spiked red hair that gave him an extremely cute and innocent type of look, compared to Dark who looked wild and mysterious.  
"But still," Daisuke said with a worried look on his face, "You can't just go and pull a stunt like that!"  
"Oh, come on Dai!" Dark said turning to his partner, "We haven't switched in forever. How's a guy supposed to have any fun, and besides the fan girls loved it."  
"You're going to drive me crazy Dark!"  
"Oh so I haven't already?" the thief said laughing, and dropping altitude slightly.  
"Ah," Daisuke said, something catching his eye. "Is that-"  
"Yeah, that's Discord's Comet alright," Dark sighed, looking up as the comet passed through the night sky. It had been in the sky for about and hour now but it had been the first time that either of the two had noticed it. It was traveling at a fast speed as if racing to the center of the sky where the full moon hung high overhead.  
"We've wasted a lot of time," Dark said focusing his eyes back along the coastline, were many houses stood on the face of the cliff. "We'd better seal this thing and fast or it might just activate."  
"You don't really think it has the power to open another world up to this one, do you Dark?" Daisuke asked in a worried tone, looking down at the statue under his right arm.  
"Who knows, but I don't think we'll want to take a chance like that."  
Dark started to pick up speed and come into a landing. He fluttered there in the air were he landed on a balcony of a small house on the cliff side.  
"Hey everyone!" Dark called out, "We're back!"  
The wings on his back shrunk down to a size of a small animal and jumped off. It continued to transform through the air, until when it touched the ground stood a white long eared and tailed bunny. It shook its head once and gave a happy smile to the thief. "Kyu!"  
"Great job tonight, With," Dark said kneeling down to scratch the rabbit behind on of its big floppy ears, tucking the statue tightly under her other arm.  
The bunny made another smile and jumped onto the windowsill, "Kyu!"  
Just then three people rushed into the room; one a fairly old man, dressed in a blue bathrobe, and two woman, one tall with brown red hair, and a gleam in her eyes, the other had a huge smile on her face and dressed in a maid's outfit. There names Daiki, Emiko, and Towa.  
"Dai! Your home!" said Emiko, rushing forward to give Dark a hug. When she let go of him, she grabbed the statue from under his arm. She lifted it over her head and spun around on one foot with joy. "Yeah! You brought me another piece for my collection!" she sang merrily.  
"Be careful with that!" Daiki yelled snatching the statue out of her hands. "Do you want to go and break it, Emiko! Or even worse activate it before the comet passes?"  
Emiko smiled happily and stuck her tongue out at the old man, while snatching the tarp off the statue for everyone to see.  
The statue was that of a beautiful woman reaching upwards towards the sky. It was made of a green crystal dazzled in the moonlight.  
"Emiko! Are you mad!" Daiki yelled taken aback that Emiko had reveled the statue, his face lit up beet red.  
"Relax, Dad, we still have time," she said pointing down to her watch, "The comet is supposed to pass the moon right at twelve midnight, right?" she asked herself, looking up at a sky light window that was in the center of the room. The full moon could be clearly seen overhead. "You don't really think anything could happen do you?"  
"It's best that we don't take chances," Daiki said walking over to a desk that was underneath a raised bed. The placed the statue down on it, lightly, and stepped back, and folded his hands as if making a small prayer.  
"This statue," Daiki started, "is said to contain the very soul of Discorda, the Roman Goddess of Chaos. Her hand is outstretched to the heavens, for a reason. Whenever that comet passes over the moon in two worlds at the same time, a gate way is opened between them-"  
"And all hell brakes loose, right?" Dark asked as if board, and pulling out a black feather from his jacket. "Don't worry, I'll seal it before that happens."  
But just then the statue's eyes lit up a fiery red and Dark's feather caught fire.  
"Wha-" he yelled dropping it as it smoldered through the air. "I…can't…move," Dark shudder, trying to move, but only in failure.  
"What's going on!" cried Towa rushing to Dark to try to help him.  
"It looks like Discorda has other plans," Daiki said turning from the frozen in place Dark, to the statue, and finally up to the skylight. His eyes widened in fear, for the green comet was close to passing over the moon. "Get him outta here!" he yelled quickly.

Away in the night sky over the desert, Alphonse watched the comet. He let out a laugh of amazement as the comet hit the moon and lit up a bright green, just as it had in Dark's world.  
"Brother look!" he said pointing upwards at the comet. But as he did a stream of red light beamed down from it and hit his brother, still asleep at his side. Al gasped and started shaking his brother, but Ed didn't stir or make a sound. "Brother! Wake Up!" Al yelled shaking him at first, then trying to smother out the light that was hitting his brother. But no matter what Al put in front of it, the light continued to make a contact with Ed.

At the same moment a black light came from the comet and hit Dark. His eyes widened for a moment and then closed. A feeling of dread came through the room as Toa continued to shake Dark out of the trance.  
A few moments passed and the light disappeared as quickly as it came. Dark fell forward, as if he didn't have any legs, and he hit the floor, his mouth half open and breathing easily as if he was asleep.  
Emiko rushed forward to Dark's side. "Dark! Daisuke! Talk to me!" she yelled.  
Dark's eyes fluttered, and he rolled onto his side. "Al, would you quit shouting," he said tiredly, "Just a few more minutes…" But just as he said this his eyes shot open again.  
"What the-" Dark shouted jumping to his feet and away from Emiko and Towa. "Who the hell are you people?"  
"Dark? What's wrong?" Daisuke asked in a worried tone.  
"W-Who said that!" Dark yelled, spinning around the room trying to find the source of the voice, even though it was coming from his own head.  
Dark then turned back to Emiko and Towa, and clapped his hands together, then slammed them down onto the floor. His eyes were scared but fierce.  
A silent pause went through the room. Everyone stood there staring at Dark.  
Dark slowly looked down at the room floor, expecting something to pop out of it.  
He clapped his hands together again, and made the same downward motion… Nothing happened… Dark did this again… Nothing…  
He kept clapping his hands together and slammed them onto the ground, each time growing increasingly faster.  
"WHAT THE HELL IT WRONG?" he yelled.  
Emiko, Daiki, and Toa all looked down at him strangely.  
"Um… Dark? What are you doing?" Emiko asked, breaking the silence first.  
"Playing Patty Cake with the floor?" offered Towa in a cute voice.  
"**PATTY CAKE**!" yelled Dark, standing up and pointing his right hand at the three. "Listen you! I don't know how the hell you got me here but if you don't-" but then Dark stopped and gazed at the pink ribbon that was tied around his right wrist. (This was the ribbon that Risa gave Dark in the painting.)  
He looked blankly at his wrist for a moment, then his eyes started to scan his entire right arm.  
"How did you-?" Dark started, but stopped, and started flexing his right arm. His eyes lit up and he slowly started to turn towards the window.  
The glass shinned over once and showed Dark his own reflection.  
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- Switched Souls**

Edward's eyes shot open, and almost instantly jumped upward, hitting Alphonse on the side of his armor. Ed hit the ground on his stomach grasping his head. "Ow!" he yelled, recovering his bearings, "What the hell-" he started getting to his feet.  
"Brother?" All said, both shocked and startled that Ed had gotten up so fast, let alone hit him. He got up and started to walk over to Ed to help him up. "Ed, you ok?"  
Ed slowly turned to his brother who now seed to loam over him. After a few seconds he let out a scream and jumped backwards.  
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Ed yelled standing up on the railroad ties and madly looking around. For a moment he seemed to ignore Al entirely and looked out into the night. "Emiko! Daiki! Toa"  
Alphonse got up and tried to hold him back or at least attempted to settle him down. "Brother! What's gotten into you?" he yelled as in a worried tone.  
Ed got out of Al's grip with a great deal of struggle. "Brother!" Al seemed to scold.  
Ed only gave him a stern look, one that made Al jump slightly. A moment passed between them as a cold breeze seemed to pass between the two brothers.  
"Tell me," Ed started at length, looking down at the ties then back up to Al, "Where the heck am I?"  
Al stood there looking at his brother, confusion the only thought in his mind. "Brother…? What are you talking about"  
Ed seemed to let out a sigh, dropping the glare from his face. "I'm not your brother…" he finally said.  
Al let out a bit of a laugh. "Ed is this some type of joke?" he said shaking his head, "Fine you got me, nice joke, now seriously. Would you stop-"  
"I said I'm not your brother! I'm the Phantom Thief Dark Mousy!"  
"…Mousey?" Al said with a blank tone in his voice, "Brother? You sure you're alright? You must have hit your head pretty hard when you hit me-"  
"Listen I'm telling you-" Ed started again, but before Ed could finish his sentence he was interrupted by a loud train whistle that sounded behind them.  
Al gave out a bit of a sigh of relief, "Look brother, our ride's here."  
"I'm telling you! I'm not your-WAH!" Ed said, as Al grabbed him and hoisted him onto his shoulder, and stepped off the train tracks. As the train rumbled past, Alphonse grabbed onto the side railing of the last cart. A second latter, with a bit of a thud, the two where onboard heading north.  
"This should get us into Central alright, don't you think Ed?" Al asked looking off the side of the train. "It's a good thing you spotted these tracks when you did, or itwould have been another three days of walking." With that Al stole a look at his brother who was on all fours breathing heavily on the floor of the moving car. "Ah Ed?" Alphonse asked him walking over to him to help him up. But before he could his brother jumped to his feet and ran to the railing of the back cart, looking out into the desert. "I'm definitely not in Japan anymore…" he started in a low voice.  
"Japan?" Al asked looking at his brother in confusion again, "Brother what are you talking abo-"  
But Ed turned to him giving him another hard look. "Listen Tin-Man, I said I'm not-" but by this time Al looked as if a ton of bricks had been dumped on top of him as he sank back into a corner, drawing a small circle over and over again on the floor with his index finger. '_Tin-Man?_' he thought.  
Ed stopped, seeing that he was getting nowhere fast. "Listen, I'm sorry," he said placing his hands on his hips, "I'm not from here,'' he said at length at the same time as trying to keep his head.  
Al looked back to his brother for a moment, "What are you saying?"  
"I told you before I'm not your brother," Ed said before giving a glare up at the moon. "Tell me, did a comet just pass by the moon before I hit you?"  
Al nodded following his glare up to the moon, "Yeah, but-"  
Ed let out a bit of a sigh, "It makes a bit of sence now…" he said at length, "Where ever your brother is, he's probably having one hell of a time…"

"What the hell did you do to me?" Dark yelled at the top of his lungs, running over to his reflection in the window.  
"Dark! Why are you freaking out like this?" Daisuke said from the back of Dark's mind. "Who keep's saying that?" Dark yelled jumping backwards. Emiko grabbed him from behind and pulled him into a restraint. "Dark!" she yelled, "What's wrong with you?" she then gave a look over to her father. "Dad, what's wrong with him?" she asked him trying to avoid getting hit by Dark's flailing arms. "GET OFF ME LADY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.  
Toa gave Daiki the same worried look as Emiko did. "Daiki? What's happed to Dark, why's he acting this way? Can't he remember who we are?"  
Daiki only gave a stern look to the statue that stood on Daisuke's desk, then back to Dark who was still struggling in Emiko's grip.  
"Let me GO!" Dark yelled at the top of his voice.  
Daiki then stepped forward and slapped Dark a crossed the face. Dark only froze and turned to Daiki. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled at the old man.  
"Pull yourself together man!" Daiki yelled in an order. The grandfather gave a sigh as if composing himself back together before he gave himself a heart attack. "Now answer me," he started again, "What's your name?"  
A silence seemed to fall in the room, everyone stood there looking at Dark, who was still in Emiko's head lock. "Why the hell would I tell you that?" Dark asked with an angry look on his face, "You're the one who kidnapped me, didn't-?" but then all of a sudden he stopped to realize that he was looking down at the old man. "Hey… how come… I'm taller than you?"  
"Don't change the subject," Daiki said in a way that almost made Dark jump, "Now tell me your name."  
Dark seemed to hesitate for a moment before he answered, "Its Edward, Edward Elric, happy?"  
"I thought as much," Daiki said with a sigh, turning back to the statue of Discorda. "You might want to sit down Dar- I mean Edward," he said correcting himself, "This is going to probably take a while."  
Dark gave him a strange look and then gave a look to Emiko to get off again, as if reasoning with her that he'd be good. She only nodded in letting him go, and Dark sank to the floor with a bit of a thud. He heatedly crossed his arms as he sat down. "Alright old man, what's this about?"  
Daiki gave him a bit of a glare before he cleared his throat. "This is here," he said pointing to the statue on Daisuke's desk, "Is the Statue of Aries; the Greek Goddess of Chaos. Many hundreds of years ago it was said to be infused with the goddess's power by the energy of the comment of Discord; the same comet that passed over the skies of both our worlds. The legend is told that whenever the comet passes over a full moon the statue will awaken and open a gate way between two worlds bring destruction in their wake.  
"You see, Dark, the person whose body your in, Ed, tried to seal it's power before that could happen, but it seems to me part of the spell backfired…" Daiki said rubbing his head trying to find the best way of wording it, "Instead of a doorway opening between our worlds, a door way was opened between your bodies and your souls must have switched places..."  
Ed was impatiently shaking his right leg up and down while Daiki was talking. "Don't give me all this mystic mumbo-jumbo crap!" he yelled, "It's impossible for two people to swap bodies, let alone in between two worlds!" The look in Ed's eyes slandered a bit as he continued giving Daiki a devilish look as if he had just been called 'short'.  
"I get what you're playing at old man," he started as he started to stand up, "This is all just a dream. In a moment Al will wake me up and you can go on living your magical fantasy lives-"  
At this Emiko's fist clenched and she reached into her pocket pulling out a picture. 'I've had enough of this," she grumbled as she faced Ed and put the photo straight into his face, "Quit fooling around Dark and change back into Daisuke already!"  
Ed looked at the picture blankly and then back to Emiko. '_Great a female Mayes…_' he thought to himself as he pushed the picture away. "Look, I'm sure your daughter is really pretty but-"  
"My WHAT?" Emiko shouted, as she grabbed Ed by the shoulders and started shaking him, "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you changing back?"  
Daiki interrupted her, "Emiko, that's not his celestial maiden-"  
Emiko looked back at her father, as she stopped shaking Ed back and forth, "But Dad. I thought that Dark liked Riku. So maybe it's RISA!" she yelled turning back to Ed pulling the other picture of the set of twins.  
Dark looked at this new picture the same way he did as the first… blankly.  
"So…" he started, "what am I supposed to be looking at old lady?" he said in a somewhat confused tone.  
"**OLD LADY**!" Emiko yelled at the top of her lungs. She lunged at Ed, tackling him to the floor, fists and feet flying.  
"**WHOTHEHELLDOYOUTHINKYOUARE?COMINGINTOMYHOUSEANDSTEALINGMYSON'SBODYWHENWE'RETRYINGTOSHOWYOUSOMESYMPATHY!THENERVE!I'LLKILLYOUYOUDAMNEDLITTLEPUNK!**"  
Toa and Daiki rushed to pull Emiko off of Ed and out the door.  
"Daisuke! I'll need to take your mother out for a while! If you're still in there, try to explain things-Ow!" he yelled as he and Toa drug Emiko out, ending up with a fist accidentally in his face, right before the door closed with a slam.  
Ed was left on the floor, twitching…  
"Well this is a little awkward…" Daisuke said looking at the door in his spirit form, then turned to look down at Ed, "I'm really sorry about this Mr. Elric."  
Ed shook his head, regaining some of his senses, "No, it's nothing. I've got my but kick by harder-eh…" he started before seeing Daisuke in the room. But instead of rather 'seeing' him like a person he saw more right through him. "AHHH! GHOST!" Ed yelled, his face turning white as a sheet.  
"No, please!" Daisuke started, "Let me explain. I'm not a ghost, I'm you, or at least a part of you, or Dark rather… I dunno. It's really hard to explain-"  
'_Oh great… more gibberish…_' Ed thought to himself.  
"It's not gibberish! It's the truth!"  
"Wait a minute-did you just read my- how the hell did you"  
"It's really alright. Just let me explain," Daisuke started again, "You see, my family has a curse over it that whenever the last boy of my family's lineage turns 14 he can turn into the Phantom Thief Dark whenever he falls or feels in love."  
"OK…" Ed started in a befuddled tone, "So where does that put me?"  
"I think the statue switched both you and Dark when it was activated, like grandpa told you. You see Dark was out at the time so I guess it would have been me who switched places but I'm not sure of what really happened."  
'Wha-" Ed started but then dropped his question a second latter. "It doesn't make sense…" he started turning back to the window, "The whole statue thing… and even this curse! Arghh! It's making my head throb!" Ed said while clutching his forehead only ending up to run his fingers though his new raven black hair.  
Ed then looked back to Daisuke, "So what about you? Are you me? Or am I me?"  
"I guess it's a little of both…" Daisuke said sheepishly, "Dark's like my half, so when you switched, your in his place now. It's really hard for even me to explain-"  
"Uh-huh… So what about the pictures of those girls and your mom-?"  
"Oh, well, the transformations between me and Dark are triggered by our emotions," he said blushing a bit, "Whenever I see or sometimes think of Miss Hirata my heart goes- well, you know… and I change into Dark. The same is with him and Miss Hirata's twin sister, Miss Riku."  
"Really they're twins? Funny they didn't really look it…" Ed said pondering the though. "So the reason is because I didn't change into you was because I didn't even know either of those girls, let alone love them," Ed said with a victorious smile, "Serves that bitch right having her plan go down the drain, hehe-"  
"Mr. Elric! Don't talk about our Mom that way!"  
"You mean your mom!"  
"She's your mom too now!"  
Ed froze. '_If that's my mom, then I must have landed myself in hell..._'  
"No this is Japan"  
"Japan? Where the hell is that?"  
"That reminds me," Daisuke said changing the subject, "Where'd you come from? And what was that clapping you were trying to pull of earlier?"  
Ed looked like he was caught of guard with this question, "I come from the country of Amestris ((you can find this in the FMA manga)). It's a country that's ruled by the military really, those of who are near the height of the military are the State Alchemists; a group of elite scientists who use alchemy as tool to help the people. But I'd rather not go into now if you don't mind Daisuke, was it?" Ed asked looking off out the window, then gazing down at his own body again.  
"Ah-" Daisuke started, trying to understand, but then he saw thelonesome look inEd's eyes."Mr. Edward? Are you alright"  
"Yeah I'm fine it's just-" Ed started clenching his right fist and holding it up into the air, "Right now I'm back into the flesh, but it's not even my own body…" he said starting to trail off his voice sounding rather tired. "Back in… the flesh?" Daisuke said in puzzlement. Ed dropped his arm again turning away from Daisuke completely. "It's nothing," he started closing his eyes and walking over to the couch to where With was sitting. The rabbit let out a "Kyuu?" in worry but Ed seemed to ignore it. He just simply closed his eyes and said one word;  
"Al…"

"So you're telling me you're some Phantom thief from another world?" Al asked.  
"That's what I've been TRYING to tell you!" Dark said a bit agitated that this guy was just now getting it...  
"That comet must have switched me and your brother around when it passed over the moon-"  
"But how can that be, E-Dark?" Al said almost calling Dark 'Edward'. After this was still his brother… right?  
"It's impossible to disconnect the souls from the mind, unless you complete a powerful transmutation! And the only thing that can be that powerful is the Stone!"  
"Transmutation? Stone?" Dark asked with a confused look on his face.  
"You know… Alchemy? Come on brother don't tell me you've forgotten everything you've learned!" "Ah… no?" Dark said not sure if it was the right answer to say.  
"OK then…" Al started but only ending with a sigh in failure.  
"By the way there's something I've been wondering…" Dark started looking directly at Al.  
"Huh? What's that?" Al asked looking down at Dark.  
"Are you like nine feet tall or something?" Dark asked point blankly.  
"Ummm…" Alphonse started.  
"'Cause seriously, I'm about 5' 7" so you have to be at least, what? 8?" Dark asked guessing.  
"Actually…" Al started hesitantly, "Ed's just…" But then he stopped and leaned over and whispered something into Dark's ear.  
"What!" Dark shouted at the top of his lungs, "THIS PUNK IS THAT SHORT? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"  
Al let out another sigh as Dark started to flip out again. '_It's weird_,' he thought, '_He says he's a different person but besides his story, he's almost exactly the same..._'  
"WHEN I GET BACK TO MY BODY I'M GONNA CRUSH THAT STATUE INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!"  
Al shook his head as he stood up slowly, and started to make his way to the back door, "We probably should get a seat before anyone finds us back here, brother."  
Dark let out a heavy sigh as he fell somewhat forward as if he had given up hope, "Damn this punk…" Dark started, "I'm probably a million miles away from home, our souls have swapped completely, I have a walking tin man for a brother, and this freaking kid is five foot twoooo!"  
Al opened the back door to the train looking inside the empty hallway. The passenger train was quiet, for the most part, only a snore here and there coming from an almost dead asleep man. As Alphonse sat down onto a bench he looked over to find Dark walking with his left leg dragging on the floor a bit. "This is weird, there feels like there's some sort of weight on the bottom of my shoe," Dark started lifting up his leg as if checking to see if there was something tied onto it.  
"Oh, I wouldn't do that just yet," Al started, "Not until I explain a few things-You might flip out again."  
"Flip out?" Dark asked with an annoyed tone on his voice, "Listen you. I do not call that flipping out, aright!"  
"So what do you call it?" Al asked with a bit of a laugh.  
Dark lifted a finger as if he had a good comeback up his sleeve but then he turned quickly away. "Oh just shut it," he said a bit roughly as he sat on the bench opposite from Al, turning to look out into the desert. '_Maybe he just lost his memory when he hit his head on me… like amnesia…_' Al thought to himself looking at Dark, '_This whole switching souls thing sounds a bit far fetched..._'  
"Hey Al, right?" Dark asked glancing towards him with a semi confused look on his face, "Where are we headed anyways"  
Al jumped from his thoughts when Dark asked him this. "That's right. To Central. Brother was called there by Mustang a cuppol of days ago, but I wasn't sure what for…" But as he was saying this, another thought dawned on him. '_Oh no! With Ed acting like this, what the heck is Roy going to say?_'  
"You alright?" Dark asked him raising an eyebrow.  
Alphonse jumped. "Ah-yes, I'm fine- well I mean-ah-" he said, not knowing what to do.  
"Why so frantic?" Dark asked crossing his legs and leaning back into the seat as if trying to get comfortable for the long ride ahead of them, "This Mustang guy? What is he? You're brother's boss?"  
"Well you see, Ed works under him, yeah, but I don't think-"  
"Then don't worry. I know how to take care of myself. I've probably handled worse then some old fat guy who sits behind a desk all day doing nothing but paper work. But just what does your bother work for anyways?" Dark asked stretching his arms above his head, not having the slightest worry about what he was going to get himself into.  
Al started as if he were about to say something, but stopped himself and lowered his voice to a whisper, worried about what Dark's reaction would be… "If I tell you, you have to promise that you won't freak out again, alright"  
Dark nodded, before he had a second chance to guess himself. "Ok, shoot," he said calmly.

**"WHAT? THE MILITARY?"**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter III - Trouble in Central**

(A quick side note: eyebrow arches mmm? people actually like my work? hm. well this is a bit awkward. sigh I guess I really should explain why I haven't been posting the chapters as of late. It turned out one of me best friends whom moved away the year I started writing this had to move out of state. Since then I kind of fell out of the fandom because every time I thought of DNA, or writing this which was a story she asked me to write it made me think of her and letting go is just on the hard side for me to do. So as to that being the reasoning, forgive me in the delay. Just so you know though, my style has changed slightly over the last year or so...)

"Th-th-the m-mill-lli-military???" Dark yelled stuttering out the words. The look of shock was only on his face as he looked back to Al as if he was being held at gun point. A moment passed before Dark leaned forwards and started to continue his rant. "I'M A THEIF! NOT SOME SALUTE HAPPY STIFF WHO DOES WHATEVER HE'S TOLD!"

Al was taken aback by this. Putting his hands up he could only attempt in calming the other down though it seemed to make no avail at this point. "You promised you wouldn't flip-" he started though he was quickly cut off by the other's yell.

**"I AM NOT FLIPPING OUT!!"**

Before long the train rolled to a screeching stop at the overly crowded station of Central. Immediately as the train started to unload, passengers seemed to flood the platform, where Al almost had to forcible shove Dark out of the train. Once they were out however, Alphonse quickly raised his glance this way and that as if he were looking for something. A few seconds latter was when he was able to let go of a sigh of relief.

"What is it?" Dark asked raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Oh. It's just that usually someone comes down from HQ whenever we come back into town but it looks like the coast is clear."

"Huh? What type of people?" Dark asked having a slightly worse of a feeling about the situation he was getting himself into. Before Al could answer however, Dark felt a hand as strong as iron clamp down on his shoulder from behind.

"GREETINGS FRIENDS! I'm so relieved that your journey was successful and that you have come back to us safe and unharmed!" came the thunder of a voice from behind him. Dark nearly jumped out of his skin as he thought for a distinct moment he saw his spirit fly away. Without a seconds warning however he darted behind Al.

"Mmmm? Come now, Edward," said the voice again, his voice heavy but kind, "I didn't scare you _that_ much did I?"

"Major Armstrong!" Al said, trying to hide the feelings of surprise and worry in his voice, "How are you?"

The Major could only seem to laugh, while the light that gleamed in through the windows hit his bald head and seamed to reflect off of him in the form of odd pink shaped sparkles around his crown and face. "Right as rain, Alphonse. But I'm not too sure about Edward for that matter. Is he alright?" he asked looking down to Dark a worried look to his blue eyes though he continued to smile.

The Major was an extremely robust man in a full blue uniform. He was mostly bald, save for a single large blonde cowlick that sat on the high center of his forehead. Though seemingly harmless, he had the kind of 'full of himself' look to him, along with a bushy blonde mustache that bordered his upper lip. What seemed to anger Dark slightly though was the fact of the Major's height. He was nearly the same height as Al... Maybe even taller for that matter.

'_What is this? A world of giants?'_

"Don't mind Ed," Alphonse started slightly whispering to the Major so that Dark wouldn't be offended, "He's been a bit rattled ever since we got through the desert. Bumped his head too for that matter but I'm sure it's nothing a bit rest can't fix."

Armstrong laughed. "So that's why you're being so jumpy," he started, missing Al's hint to keep a bit of a lower profile on the subject. Reaching into his pocket, his large hand pulled out a small tan box from his uniform. "The Armstrong Family Secret Herbal Tea. Guaranteed to calm your nerves and replenish the soul," he explained happily before held it out to Dark. "The recipe has been in the family and has been passed down for generations, and has never failed me yet."

Dark stared at the bag for a moment, before looking back to the Majors kind eyes. Still recovering from the state of shock, he took the box knowing well enough to take generosity were he could get it from at this point. "Thanks," he said slightly, the worry slowly starting to diminish from his voice, as he stowed it away. _'Like I said before... Salute happy stiffs,'_ Dark thought slightly to himself, still wishing the man's greeting hadn't caught him so completely off guard.

Letting out a sigh, he could only try recovering his nerves at this point. "I'll need to try it later," Dark said giving the man a nod slightly, "Anyways, where's Mustang? He must have called us down here for some reason or another."

Armstrong nodded for a moment. Dark could have sworn he saw grave look in his eyes before the bald man started again. "Colonel Mustang hasn't told me anything as to why he asked the both of you here, though I've been ask to escort you both back to Head Quarters as soon as possible."

"Is it serious?" Al asked slightly, seeming to be wondering about the same question that Dark had on his mind.

"I'm not sure, but something tells me it has to do with your findings in the South. Nothing big, right?" he asked, his tone almost becoming hushed for a moment. Al held back a worried sigh, as he shook his head a 'no', while Dark could only look to follow Al's lead. "But come, I have a car waiting for us just around the corner. We can talk more on the way there," Armstrong started again as he motioned them to follow and started down the station platform.

While the man's back was turned however, Dark could only take the chance of getting a few words out of Al. "'Findings in the South'?" he asked in a worried whisper.

Al let out a low sigh, "It's a long story... Extremely long. Oh man, this is bad. Mustang's probably expecting some long review over everything that happened at the attack on the South Head Quarters. Oh man, this is bad..."

"Well, aren't we the optimistic one," Dark said flatly, wishing Al would have given him more then that, as he followed Armstrong trying not to draw attention to himself. A long story wouldn't work in this type of situation. Who knew what type of trouble he could get Al into if he blew this for him and his brother. Talking about the last some 15 years of these two brother's life histories however wasn't an option in front of the Major whom still suspected nothing was wrong. There seemed only two options. Keep his head low and lie, or: "I vote we bail..." Dark said under his breath in a whisper.

"We might as well have to at this point..." Al started seeming to want to get another word in before they turned a corner and were piled into a small black car.

A long silence seemed to pass as the three drove along, though Dark seemed more or less like he was trying to appear inconspicuous to the world around him. However that didn't seem much of the problem as the Major broke the silence with an odd ramble, mostly about his long and presumptuous family heritage. Dark guessed it was either a way to pass time or to break the awkward silence that seemed to have set in between them. He could only slip a sigh before he started to stare out to the world new world that surrounded him. He stared however at the gleam of a reflection of Edward's face that seemed to only stare back at him with the same look of amazement. _'I can't believe this is happening,_' he thought slightly before staring up at the single short gold bang of his that seemed to stand on end like some sort of antennae. He fought the urge to play with it slightly before shaking his head.

Without word he started staring out into the new odd world that surrounded him. It seemed to dark that this place seemed almost like it was in a time zone stuck near the turn of the century of sorts. The buildings seemed no more higher then regular apartment buildings lined with homely brick and stone. Still, however, what he missed was the absences of an ocean that was no where to in sight. The ocean. For some odd reason it seemed to make Dark only think of... _'Daisuke.'_

"Hm? Why look so down Edward?" Armstrong asked pausing in his rambling to give Dark a glance back from keeping his eyes on the road.

"It's nothing," Dark said, still not used to being called by that name. "I guess just thinking a bit about home."

Al could only let out a small cough to try to warn Dark not to go into that topic so as it wouldn't give them away. However it wasn't a topic brought up for the car soon came to a halt and the three were piled out of the car once more.

Dark looked up at the building with somewhat of a gawk. 'All this time I've spent running away from the cops, and here I am about to walk into a military base of operations...' Dark thought to himself, knowing once he was inside there would be no easy way to get out. Not like this at least... But then again this kid Edward was supposed to be working for them. Maybe he could use that to his advantage somehow.

"He's been rather ecstatic about the transfer lately, but with Scar's sighting in the South and the attacks that's happened lately, it's gotten him rather back to his old self," Armstrong started to explain, his hushed tone gone from his voice in the powerful presence of HQ ahead of them. "You might want to be a bit on your guard Edward."

Dark looked to the Major slightly, before nodding. He gave a quick glance to Al whom seemed to be hiding the same petrified look as he did. Dark could only give him a bit of a smile as if telling him it'd be alright. _'Somehow...' _Al seemed to be watching Dark out of the corner of his eyes however. He knowing nothing of the procedures here, there was no telling what type of trouble he could possibly cause.

Walking through the halls, Dark kept quite, noticing how many of the people either gave him odd looks and stares, or either a friendly smile. He could only guess this kid was important. _'Hard to tell, though, him being so short…'_ Dark thought to himself slightly before shaking his head. Before he knew it however, Armstrong's hand was placed on his shoulders and he was shoved into an open door.

He stumbled upon entry, turning back to see Armstrong close it behind him, as he caught one last look of a worried Al as the door shut with a click. "It's about time you got here Ed," a voice said from behind him. Looking about, he saw a ebony black haired man sitting behind a large desk and leafing through a couple of papers lazily. Dark stared for a moment as an awkward silence passed between them. It was then that the Colonel raised a bit of an eyebrow. "What no 'Hello', 'How are you, 'Why the hell did I get called down this time?' That's not like you Edward."

"Oh- Sorry. Guess it's just been a while since I came in here last," Dark said, quickly thinking on his feet.

"Well nothing ever seems to change; nothing for me anyways. Sit down Ed," he said before sitting back into his chair. Dark obeyed, trying to relax though his heart seemed to be going at a million miles an hour. Jobs like this had always been easy for him, but playing a kid he knew nothing about? The words 'what the hell do I say' kept only coming to mind.

"Being quite again, huh? It's almost like you're hiding something."

Dark jumped slightly, "I don't know what you're talking about," he said before shaking his head and looking Mustang straight in the eyes. "So what do you want his time?"

Roy chuckled, seeming to except the sarcasm. "Nothing of much. Only this time," he started lowering his voice, "It would seem I need your help with a few things in cleaning up a mess that happened as of recently… I want to know… everything that you can remember about Lab five, and if you've made any more run in with these people that call themselves the Homunculi."

'_Homunculi?'_ Dark asked himself the word coming to mind from somewhere though he knew nothing on the subject. "Can't recall..." he said easily, turning his head away.

"Don't give me that," Roy said, eyes narrowing. "After it's collapse we found both you and your bother nearly half dead. The report you filed earlier is fine, but I still feel like your not giving us all the details on what they're after besides the stone. There have also been reports about strange things in the south, and I want to know everything that you-"

Dak cut him off, finding the chance to weave a lie with the information that was given. "Look, I filled that report with everything I knew! They knocked me out remember?" he asked angrily stuffing his hands into his pockets. Mustang on the other hand narrowed his eyes slightly staring at end. Another moment of silence passed before he sighed and shook his head.

"How's your teacher?"

"Sensei's fine…" he started again, easing a guess with the name.

"Hear anything about the attack on the South HQ?"

Dark thought for a moment. "Rumbles happen, though I'm sure that-"

"You of all people should at least though knowing that it was your teacher that stormed the place."

"I didn't-"

"Along with Le. Archer that recruited that murderer Kimbley back into the military when he was put on death row years ago.

"Well that's his problem not-"

"Also there were spottings of chimeras running an underground bar that were slaughtered the night before. Apparently the Fuehrer himself goes and annihilates them all, instead of imprisoning them and takes them into questioning to see where they came from or who they were made by. Doesn't it seem odd to you that the Fuehrer would go so far out of his way to wipe such a slate clean?"

"How the hell should I know what's going on through the Fuehrer's head," Dark said with an annoyed tone on his breath. "The chimeras where his problem not mine…"

Roy's eyes narrowed at him darkly for a moment. "Even though the report that came in said that they kidnapped your younger brother?"

Dark froze at this, knowing that he had screwed up major. What more could he say with how informed he was to the current situation-

"What are you hiding Ed?" Roy said standing up and looking down at Dark. The man was at a normal height for an adult, but it simply made Dark feel more like he was being looked upon like nothing more then a child. Darks eyes closed, knowing full well that it was time to bail…

His hands clenched on his knees slightly. "Colonel Mustang?" he asked slightly before standing up and looking him dead in the eyes. "I LOVE YOU!"

Without warning, the sound of the snap of a finger sounded from behind the closed door. Instantly the door was flung open by a fire ball and charred body that went flying through the air, landing in a skid a crossed the tiled floor. Dark stopped, twitching and slightly smoking from the blast as he tried to sit up still covered in black soot.

Mustang appeared in the door way, a heavy glare on his eyes as he wiped the edge of his lip line with the back of his glove. "Take some time off Ed," the man yelled, thinking that maybe the heat of the desert had gotten to him. "And so help me if you try to pull a stunt like hat again I'll blast you into Mar's orbit!!" With that the door slammed closed, leaving Al staring before running to Dark's side.

"Dar-ED! What the heck happened in there??"

Dark could only force a playful smile. "I bailed."


End file.
